Ralph Lauren’s Smartshirt measures your vital medical stats

Do you ever wonder if wearables could be more practical? Ralph Lauren did, which is why he designed a special shirt for the more sportive fashionistas.

The Polo Tech Shirt, a compressing sleek black design, has a sensor on the ribcage and silver thread woven throughout the fabric. Its purpose would be to:

measure heart rate, stress levels, and general exertion

immediately transmit these data to a phone or computer and

analyze and monitor the sportsman.

The shirt premiered at the US Open on August 31st, but your house and garden fitness fanatic will have to wait just a little while longer.

However, the Polo Tech Shirt is not just interesting for the top tennis players, marathon runners and fitness addicts among us. It could easily have a purpose in healthcare: people with heart arrhythmia, breathing problems, and issues with being active could benefit greatly from a shirt that warns them—and a healthcare provider—if their stats go out of the ordinary.

It would seem “smart clothing” has the possibility to be the next big thing, and if so, what is next? Smartypants?